Thursday 09/26/19

I slept quite well last night in spite of the occasional church bells. The AirBnB I’m in is in a very old building, but a completely new remodel, the best of both worlds, and very well located. I got up and headed for the covered market for coffee, and then to the visitor info center where I could take one of those hokey tourist tram things around town. That was good for about an hour. My landlord had given me a fairly extensive walking tour the night before so there really weren’t any surprises. After finishing that, I decided I would go to one of the famous Alsace wine towns, the nearest one being Eguisheim. After exploring complicated bus, hop on hop off bus options, I went to the station and rented an electric bike (17euro) for the afternoon. The map they gave me showed a nice bike route, but didn’t have any street names or landmarks, mostly just a squiggle on the map, almost useless. (Why can’t people understand that you need street name and landmarks to navigate?). Anyway, with google maps on the phone I got there with minimal fuss, parked the bike, walked around and found a place for lunch. First try, fancy place, still hadn’t offered me a menu after 5 minutes, walked out, no one noticed. Second place, Crepes, always a safe harbor and good. After lunch tasted a few of the local whites, tasty, but not really my kind of stuff. Rode the bike back to Colmar following a different route and turned it in. After a quick regroup I went to the Bartholdi museum. This is the man who designed and built the Statue of Liberty. Museum was not all that interesting, but models abound of some of his famous works. Apparently Gustav Eiffel helped with the framework of the Statue of Liberty.

Statue of Bartholdi, Statue of Liberty designer.Colmar.View from my sidewalk dinner table. Colmar.Sometimes, comfort food is what you want. Steak Frites, green peppercorn sauce and Cote du Rhône

Inside the covered market. No oysters to be had though.

Wednesday 09/25/19

Today promised to be a big day, so was up at 7:00am to finish packing and cleaning before heading to the train station in Wengen. The day proceeded with multiple trains:

Wengen to Lauterbrunnen was the start. Then Lauterbrunnen to Interlake Ost. Then amazingly, the Interlaken Ost to Speiz train left 5minutes late! Then a change to a Speiz to Bern train where I put my luggage in storage, walked around and found some lunch. After lunch, it was Bern to Basel and then 20 minutes before Basel to Colmar on a French train (what a difference!). From the Colmar station I walked about 15minutes to the AirBnb, a lovely building where Beethovens love interest lived. I screwed up timing, but the owners have the sporting good shop downstairs, so all worked out well, and the owner came and gave me a pretty good walking tour of the town. Colmar looks like it came out of a fairy tale. It’s a mixed feeling being back in France, I love how everything in Switzerland works so well, but the food is difficult for me. Last night I skipped dinner because there just wasn’t anything around that I really wanted to eat. Tonight, a tranche of foie gras, followed by honey roasted duckling accompanied by a small pitcher of Vacqueras…. that’s more like it. Anyway here are pictures from the day.

The AirBnb in Wengen, just perfect for me, didn’t want to leave.BernBern.

Pumpkin risotto for lunch in Bern.

This is Colmar. The cheap way to make houses was to put up a timber frame, then wattle in between and fill in with mud and plaster. This town was spared bombing in WWII.

Dinner at Le 3, Colmar. Foie gras followed by duckling “Cannette.”

Tuesday 09/24/19

Weather forecast was for rain starting shortly after noon, so I stayed fairly near. Also the annual descent of the cows from the high pastures was scheduled for 11:15am this morning. I managed a good hike to a viewpoint and back into town before the descent of the cows. In Switzerland, even the cows are on time! Sure enough pretty much a few minutes after the scheduled start a procession came through. See the video below. All the noise comes from the bells around the cow’s necks.

Looking at WengenErosion control, Swiss style.Looking back towards Wengen.Staubbach falls.

Lauterbrunnen with Staubbach falls.

View on the way to dinner at Baren HotelAmuse Bouche at Baren Hotel dinnerLamb.

Monday 09/23/19

I got a late start this morning and slept in until after 8:00pm. It was raining fairly vigorously, so didn’t seem like there was any rush to get out. Luckily the rain was variable, so I decided to try a hike. Took the train down to Lauterbrunnen then the lift to Grustchalp. It started raining again, so had a coffee and waited for it to blow over. It abated to some degree and I was able to do the hour and 20 minute walk to Murren without getting too soaked, although rain gear and an umbrella came in handy. Great views through the clouds. Had an excellent mixed salad with chanterelles and bacon for lunch as well as bowl of pumpkin soup. Then down to Lauterbrunnen and a walk over to Staubbach falls, one of the dramatic waterfalls in the valley. The steep trail up leads you behind the waterfall.

Pumpkin soupCheck out the Ibex lounging right in town.

Staubbach falls, just outside of Lauterbrunnen.View through the front door of my AirBnB, Clouds cleared up.

Sunday 09/22/19

Today’s adventure was to travel to the other side of the valley to Murren. To do this, take the train down to Lauterbrunnen, then a cable car up and switch to a single car railway. From Murren, I took the cable car up to the Shilthorn/Piz Gloria. A spectacular view and famed for being in James Bond movie, something they milk shamelessly at every turn. Lunch buffet at the 360 degree rotating restaurant was agreeable. Then it was down to the halfway point where they have secured a walkway to the side of the mountain, of course it has holes in it etc. to give you a feeling of being out in space. Then back down to Murren and another cable car to Gimmenwald. Gimmenwald is a favorite of Rick Steves, and is quite beautiful, but not much there. After an hour or so of exploring, another cable car down to Stecklberg followed by a post bus back to Lauterbrunnen and then the cog railway back to Wengen. All this sound onerous, but the Swiss have the timing so well worked out that you are seldom waiting for more than a few minutes till the next transport arrives. I was able to book the next leg of my trip last night. By staying here in Wengen an extra day, I miss a French train strike, so now heading to Comar on Wednesday where I have an AirBnb in the center of the old town booked, and then to Paris on Friday. After all of the train and cable car trips today, returned to the Wengen cheese festival in progress. Not much excitement, as in Switzerland almost every dish on the menu has cheese involved. There was what looked like a polka band but played country western, although it was incomprehensible, probably something about pick up trucks etc. see video clip.

The Eiger (ogre) , the Monch (monk) and Jungfrau(young girl). The legend is the monk is protecting the girl from the ogre.Bathroom signLooking down at Murren.

Working dairy in Gimmenwald, note the cow bells being stored, and the milk cans.Gimmenwald views.Gimmenwald, paraglide cruising by.

Some kind of country western, but it sort of looks like a polka band. Wengen Cheese Festival.

Saturday, 09/21/19

I got up at 6:30am to make the 7:24 first train to the top. Well worth it as not too many people up here. They have a well organized tour of the facilities and your able to go outside on an ice field. Interesting trivia: The cog railway built here in the late 1800’s was based on the studying the cog at Mt. Washington in NH. It is breathtaking up here and in both senses, spectacular scenery and altitude is very noticeable, 11,401 feet! This whole area is a hiking wonderland, the plan for now is to go partway down, get off the train at an intermediate station and then hike down to another station about an hour of walking or possibly longer depending on the trail selection. Weather supposed to be variable tomorrow, so glad I got it together to do this today. After taking the train part way down and having lunch at the midpoint, I went back to my AirBnb for a regroup, and then took the train down to Lauterbrunnen to see the waterfalls. A short bus ride to Trummelbach falls, the main attraction. It’s largely within the rocks, so not that exciting. See photos below.

The train headed up to Wengen from Lauterbrunnen

Friday 09/20/19

Said farewell to Lucerne this morning, somewhat reluctantly. Last night I stopped by the neighboring hotel Montana and they had a wonderful bar scene with a full jazz quintet jamming, great way to end the day. This morning, it was a 2.5 hour 3 part train ride to get from Lucerne, to Interlaken, then to Lauterbrunnen and then to Wengen. My AirBnB host, Florian was waiting for me at the station and showed me to a lovely half of a chalet not far from the main drag. Small living room kitchen with a grass patio and then a bedroom under the eves upstairs. Feels perfect for the place. Wengen has mainly electric service vehicles and no cars. Apparently the vehicles that are here have to be brought up on the train. I was able to have some lunch and then take a gondola up to Mannlichen. This was really cool because for an extra 5 francs I could climb up and ride on the roof! Well worth it! From there a good brisk 1.5 hr. walk along a fairly level trail to the Kleine Scheidegg station from where the train goes back down to Wengen. Met some nice people from the east coast who gave me recommendations. Tomorrow, I plan to take the first train, 7:24am, up to the top of the Jungfrau. There is a look out station between the Jungfrau and the Monch, with the famous Eiger being the next peak in line. This place is almost like a fairy tale. The trains climb so steeply it’s hard to believe, the track gauge seems to be about 2 feet, almost like a toy! While I was taking a timeout on the patio, I noticed a restaurant just below me, it turned out to have excellent reviews, so went down, and it was very good. They had a good price fixe that was GF and fairly priced for Switzerland, most excellent cabbage soup, salad, fish medley, crepe Caramel. Anyway here are some pix from the day:

Jungfrau on the right, Monch on the left, station in between Eiger further left but not in photo.Rooftop ride on Gondola, I’m passing going up as this one is going down.Looking down towards Wengen from the roof of the cable car.

The Jungfrau

09/19/19 Thursday

After a somewhat restless and jet laggy night, I was able to get up at a reasonable hour and following advice of the hotel, catch a boat across the lake to where a cog railway runs up Mt. Riggi. The boat ride was beautiful and took about an hour, then, the cog railway went up so steeply, it really surprised me. Unfortunately the top was in a cloud, so there was not much to see, but I walked about halfway down and caught a different funicular down to the lake. The Swiss had it timed so that you had just enough time to walk from the funicular to the arriving boat. Amazingly, you could do it all with one ticket, and my half price pass made it fairly reasonable. All in all a solid first day, and a good get to know the Lucerne area. I’m sitting on the rooftop of the Monopol hotel, which has a nice bar and a great view of the city as I write this.

That building in the middle is my hotel, the Royal Hotel.Lots of cows, and cow bells, and Manure smells!Funiclar descent gets your attention!

Here’s the boat pulling up.

Tuesday 09/17/19

Took off from Seattle non stop for CDG. Now waiting for a flight to Zurich. Don’t get me started on CDG, this morning only 2 people stamping passports….. Luckily I have plenty of time before my next flight, but others were a little panicked. The whole terminal 2F only has a few restaurants, mostly serving the same things. Anyway, 3 hours to go and off to Switzerland where I will take a train to Lucerne for 2 nights and then up to the mountains of the Bernese Oberland in Wengen.

Arrived Lucerne! View from hotel room:

Tuesday, April 30th, 2019

Back to Seattle, today. Amazing how a month can fly right by. I went for a coffee at my usual Cafe de Paris stop and then walked down the street to get on the RER B to the airport. Fortunately I scheduled a 1:10pm flight, so no need to depart at the crack of dawn. Airport was in pretty mellow shape and met a friend for coffee before heading to the gate. Usual issues with trying to upgrade a seat, and then arguing my way into the Air France lounge. Flight was easy and in an old but comfortable airplane, run by Air France. Very nice flight attendants, and some decent Croze Hermitage to drink. So, my friend Emi asked me What do you like about France and what don’t you like? As I’ve thought about that for a week it’s kind of a big question. The “don’t likes” come easily to mind. The “likes” are more challenging, partly because they are so intrinsic that I don’t think about them: Great transit, lots of walking, great parks, wonderful cafe terraces, friendly people, interesting sights, good wine, good food and so on. Before I left, one of the books I was reading said that the French are more interested in “Being” than in acquiring things etc. I really thought about this on the trip, and it really is nice to just sit somewhere with a glass of wine and just soak in the universe rather than feel a go go mentality all of the time. On the don’t likes, Customer (lack of) service, bureaucracy, menu sameness, lack of vegetables. Rigid rules. (The French love rules, which of course are meant for other people not for themselves). Complete lack of personal spatial awareness (only person in the universe syndrome). Under staffed restaurants. Bathrooms (lack thereof in places like airports and train stations) and plumbing! Ticket machines. European Washing machines (shortest run time 80minutes!) and appliances (controls are label in strange hieroglyphics). I could go on, but I still love France!

RER on the way to the Airport, CDG. About 12 euros and 40 minutes.Rental apartment, St. Germain 6th floor Studio. (With elevator!). This pix shows electric toilet, very delicate see sign on washing machine.

Here’s a quick look at how much walking I did during the trip. Those of you with iPhones can check your health app for comparison.